Creating Settings that Make You Want to Move In discussion

Of course, the Harry Potter series comes to mind for me, because the writing made me feel as if I had actually explored Hogwarts, Diagon Alley and all the other wonderful places in that world. Lord of the Rings also feels like home, although JRR Tolkien can go on a bit in places (IMHO). In mystery series, Susan Wittig Albert's Pecan Springs, TX feels very real, as does Laura Child's Indigo Tea Shop (set in very real Charleston, SC). What authors and books make you feel like you're home?

Chris A. Jackson seems to have a knack for immersing his readers in worlds other than their own.

Authors are getting better at fleshing out their worlds. I suspect that the ones that feel the most like "home" have more to do with the characters that inhabit them. Tolkien does go on a bit, and yet there is always a sort of wistfulness when the book is over.

There are two main series of books that have made me feel this way.

1. Trudi Canavan's 'Black Magician' and 'Traitor Spy' trilogies (plus Magician's Apprentice). After reading these series I truly loved the world that they were set in. It was believable, interesting, and I loved everything about it. By the time I finished reading these books I felt very down because it meant I had to move on to another book and thus leave this world behind, and it felt like I was leaving a piece of my heart with it. /sappiness

2. The Dragonlance series. Again, another world that was developed so completely by its authors, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and also by all the other authors who have contributed to the series. The timeline of the world spans centuries so you can read stories from centuries in the past and the future and see how the world has developed, follow your favourite races, and so on. Another world where, after reading so many of the books, I felt part of that world.

I have to agree with you Gail in that i felt very much 'at home' with both JK Rowling's Harry Potter and J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Both vividly realistic settings are richly described so as to paint a very clear picture, making you feel as if you are there.

Other worlds that seem very real and convincing, would also be Ken Follett's Kingsbridge (Medieval times, historical fiction). In both 'World Without End' and 'Pillars of the Earth' the setting seems to be so wonderfully colorful as Follett describes in detail its history and how the setting is so concequential to the characters within the books.

Lyra's Oxford (Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials) and C.S Lewis' Narnia are two fantasy works that again are so unqiuely singular, so origonal and spellbinding that you cannot help but be touched by the breathtaking magical setting (or worlds).

When I was younger, it was normal to me to immerse in a book and live it with the characters. I lost this ability with time, and then I regained it with Vorkosiverse series by L.M. Bujold. For which I am ever so thankful :)

In science fiction, I think William Gibson's the reigning champ of creating a convincing setting with the feeling of real depth. Jack Vance is also excellent, though his alien worlds always have a slightly wry, parodic tone which makes it hard to take them entirely seriously.

It is a very subtle art that is a mixture of both character description and shading of the background environment. I have read authors who spend pages detailing the worlds they are in down the how the leaves move. I find that the story can get lost in a description that gets too detailed. Then other authors are so focused on the main story line that the characters and world they are in seem two dimensional.

I agree that there is nothing like reading a story so compelling that you can almost see the characters in your head and share their struggles as they occur.

I think Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss both do an excellent job of creating that feeling.

To be honest, I also felt a connection with Tris in your books.

Oh Gosh so many. Harry Potter, lord of the rings. I also really enjoyed and could visualize while reading the vampire diaries and night world by LJSmith. What I find is if I cant visualize while I am reading I just cant get into the book. Its either they are over describing and you cant get a grib on one thing or they dont describe it enough and you are bored.
I know I have read some editors and agents say you dont need to describe in every detail what they are wearing and hair and yada yada but to me if you do I can pay a movie in my head and enjoy it that much more. I want to know how her hair is twisted perfectly in a braid or that her shirt hangs over a little lower on one side. jsut saying she worse a pair of nikes or pumps doesnt do it for me. :)

Tolkien, of course, was the grand master of creating a world you could live in, but before I discovered Tolkien, I traveled happily in Prydain (found in Lloyd Alexander's middle-grades fantasy chronicles) and of course Narnia. Diana Wynne Jones' "multiverse" of parallel universes has endless possibilities for adventure. And I've always loved the varied magical realms in Patricia A. McKillip's "Riddlemaster" trilogy. Among more recent books, Maggie Stiefvater's _Scorpio Races_ (published 2011) created an imaginary island beset by predatory water horses that felt very much like a real place: the terrain, the myths and customs that had developed around the water horses, the divided feelings of the islanders about their homeland, all felt very convincing. While Ysabeau Wilce's alternate-San Francisco in _Flora Segunda_ feels more dreamlike than lifelike, this trippy alt-reality (where magic "Grammatica" words can get stuck in your throat and need to be coughed up in a hasty trip to the ladies' room) is a place I'd love to visit, given the chance.

Tolkien's middle earth didn't merely seem real to me, but made me want to live there.

Strange as it may seem, Suzanne Collins' Panem has a very strong draw on me, even though I have questions about the World-Building. I even sometimes feel like a Panemian who's time traveled backwards a couple of centuries to avoid being reaped.

Well there are the obvious: Middle-Earth and Narnia. After that I'd have to say The Land from the Covenant books. Like LotR and Narnia, the events in Covenant could only have taken place in the Land. The geography was crucial to the story. All three of the above stories are just as much about the places as they are about the people.

Another one would definitely be Melanie Rawn's Sunrunner books. She really brought that world alive. By the time you were done you understood the Desert as Rohan saw it.